I left the Khajiit caravan right out side Markarth, I had said my goodbyes when we got close, as I knew they would be busy this close to sundown. They had tried to get me to stay with them til morning saying that Markarth was a dangerous town by night, but I wanted to get a room and somewhat settled.
I loitered at the entrance to town, as the architecture was beautiful. The sun was painting the stone a brilliant orange as I entered the gates. The very first thing I saw was a man killing a woman. The Khajiit were right, Markarth really was a dangerous town. As I hurried toward the Inn, a man stopped me and asked if I had seen what had happened. I told him no, he then tried to give me a note that he said I dropped. I knew I had done no such thing, so I played along and then when I got into the Inn I put the note in a brazier.
I stood their for a minute trying to get my bearings and adjust for the dim lighting. I walked up to the Bar and asked the innkeeper for a room and a meal. He yelled at his wife to get me a dinner and then showed me which room would be mine. I came back out into the common area and sat at the bar, as their were no private tables.
As I ate I looked around, knowing that some of the men and women in this room would be the mercenaries I would need, others would be thug's and low life's. My eye's kept drifting towards two men, one a Nord swordsman, the other an Altmer and by the robes a mage. I didn't need the mage right now or at least not to hire anyway, but the Nord might be exactly what I need. How to approach him, I looked strait at him and found he was looking back at me. So I tilted my head slightly and nodded, he took that exactly the way I had hoped and made his way over to me.
I sat their eating what would be my last meal, thankfully my lodging paid for the month, wondering where I was going to get some coin. I had seen no travelers that would need a guard, nor traders or really anyone else. I looked across the room at the other mercenary in the room, caught his eye and we both had the same look on our face, so I knew he didn't have any job's lined up either. I would ask Arimon tomorrow if he wanted to go in with me on a bounty, the steward always had some. That would at the very least feed and house the two of us for a week or so, perhaps more if it paid good enough.
Just as I was about to get up and go talk to him, when in walked what for a second I took as a child, huge turquoise eyes, blinked a couple times adjusting to the dim light, then had a slightly fearful cast to them as she looked around. As she pulled the hood back from her face, I reassessed her age, elves even half elven Bretons didn't age the same way most human races did. She talked to Kleeper for a moment and he yelled at his wife for a meal, he then lead her to a room.
As Kleeper walked back into the bar, he talked over his shoulder, so I knew she was coming back. Gone was the travel cloak and the tight sweater she had worn underneath it left little doubt that she was fully adult, even if one of the smallest women I had ever seen. I felt as much as saw the stirring in the crowd, all the males in the Inn had noticed her also. She sat opposite me at the bar and I looked over her head at Arimon and he raised an eyebrow and shook his head... yeah he knew trouble when he saw it. He got up and walked to a vantage point on the other side of the room, away from her. He would watch my back if their was trouble.
I sat up straiter as one of the thug's walked up to her and made a crude suggestion about how they could spend the night, it wasn't subtle and it was loud enough for the crowd to hear. Kleeper started over for her, he really was protective of his paying customers, but as she laid a hand on the thugs chest, his face went white and you could smell burnt hair. She smiled at Kleeper and he grabbed the thug and threw him out of the bar, saying something to the guard that was usually right outside.
She said thank you as Kleepers daughter brought her her food and picked up the fork and had a good look around as she slowly ate. I did notice her eye's stopping on Arimon and myself with a look of speculation, for a moment I wondered at the interest. As she finished her dinner, she caught my eye and tilted her head toward the chair next to her and nodded. So I stood up and walked over to her and sat down.
I watched as the Nord walked over to the chair next to mine and sat down. He had all the muscle and grace of an expert swordsman, but did he know the town and area? That was the pertinent question.
He kept his distance from me but was still close enough that I didn't have to talk loudly when I asked him if he was in fact a mercenary and how much of the area did he know? He said he was and that he had grown up in a small mining town not far from here and knew enough to get around. Then I asked him the question's that often made mercenaries run like the fires of Oblivion where after them. Would he mind taking orders from a female and did he mind being underground, because if he excepted the contract to protect her and if he had the skill to be head of security for her expeiditions into Dwemer ruins. I sat their looking at him in expectation, I really did need someone right away, I knew I would probably have to travel to other towns to get my work crew.
I sat next to her, making sure their was enough space between us she would not get the wrong idea, but also close enough that she would not have to raise her voice. As she asked her questions about my skills and abilities and gave me a run down of why she needed a mercenary guard in the first place, I knew that this would be a good job and probably somewhat long term. I decided then and their that underground or not, I would take the job if offered and if I played my cards right I could probably get Arimon a position also.
I told her that it didn't bother me to be underground and that I even know of a couple small Dwemer ruins that might be unknown to anyone not native to the area. I did set out some terms, that even though she would be in charge of any expedition, I would be incharge of security and if I thought a place was unsafe, she would listen to me. She pursed her lips and got a rather mulish look on her face for a minute, but then cocked her head to the side like she was listening to someone, sighed and nodded. We discused what was needed for a little longer and then she asked if I was going to except the contract, with a look on her face that said she would be patient while I thought about it.
I told her I would except the job and when would she need me to start? She gave me the coin that we had agreed upon and said that as of 6 am tomorrow, I was to start my job as her bodyguard and when she got her first assignment, I would know and could plan accordingly. With that she got up and went to her room.
I sat there for a minute longer and then felt Arimon's presence as he took the chair she had vacated. I got Kleepers attention and gave him 2 months worth of lodging rent plus food.. Then I handed Arimon some coin and asked him to look into finding some reliable merc's for the expeditions we would be going on. I had some people in mind and where he could probably find them. Writing would be alright, just tell them to take short term jobs. As she sat writing down the names and the Inn's they could be found at, I started thinking of all the supplies that would be needed and who would be the best vendors to get them from.
I asked Arimon how he was doing for coin and he said better than I was, because he enchanted weapons and armor for people for coin, it at least kept him housed and fed, if little more. I left Arimon writing letters and went to bed, when I got up in the morning Kleeper handed me a note from Arimon saying that all the letters had been written and would go out with the courrier today.
I sat eating my breakfast waiting on Minervia to wake up.
No comments:
Post a Comment